Plot

Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes: a survival game that has a whopping 45.6 billion-won prize at stake.

A story of people who fail at life for various reasons, but suddenly receive a mysterious invitation to participate in a survival game to win more than 38 million US dollars. The game takes place on an isolated island and the participants are locked up until there is a final winner. The story incorporates popular Korean children's games from the 1970s and 1980s, such as squid game, the literal translation of its Korean name, which is a type of tag where offense and defense use a squid-shaped board drawn in the dirt.

456 players are abducted from the streets of South Korea and crowded together on an island where only one survivor will win the ultimate prize: their lives and the money to pay their crippling debts. Playing deadly versions of kids' games, these players are fighting for themselves and will do whatever it takes to see everything through to the end--or die trying.—Johnny-the-Film-Sentinel-2187

Seong Gi-hun is a gambling addict and owes a large amount to an unscrupulous loan shark. His addiction has wrecked his marriage and means he rarely sees his daughter. When a stranger offers him an opportunity to play a game that will potentially see his debts erased, he jumps at the opportunity. Little does he realise how deadly the game is.—grantss